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We went to our first ever Rugby match today, we actually went to two. It was the start of the Guinness Premiership, and we went to the London ‘Double Header’ at Twickenham. The four london premiership clubs played back to back.

First it was the NEC Harlequins vs. London Irish, then it was the Saracens vs. London Wasps. We were Rugby virgins, and didn’t really know what to expect, but I decided I’d go along and support the Wasps (they and Irish are about the same distance from home).

To be honest, I wasn’t always clear what was going on – but I did enjoy it (Monica was less keen). In the first match, I was fairly neutral – Irish won, though Quins gave them a good run for their money, they lost by only one point. The final score was 20-19.

In the second match I was on the edge of my seat, and for a while I thought the Wasps would lose, but they pulled it back with penalties from Dave Walder and then kept the lead, winning 21-19.

In both games, one drop kick would have changed the result, you can’t get much closer than that!

I’m a convert, I thought it was great. I still don’t understand everything, but I’ll pick it up. The weird thing for me is that what was an intellectual choice to support the Wasps has somehow changed into a gut feeling, I’m a wasps supporter. Eek. Scary. I’ve never had a team before… (supporting the national side in a world cup doesn’t really count).

What struck me was the nice atmosphere of the crowd. We were sitting in the ‘Wasps‘ section, but to our left were Irish supporters, in front and to the right Saracens. The Guinness flowed, and it was very good natured. It was a nice cross section of people, families, men, women, children. They seemed to cater well for people in wheelchairs. It was all good.

In the premiership, points are scored in the table not just for a win: